


From the Personal Logs of Captain Proton: An Interlude

by greg-powells-mustache (GregPowellsMustache)



Series: Captain Proton and the Danger Patrol! [3]
Category: Captain Proton (Star Trek) - Fandom, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Every sci-fi serial needs plot-advancing filler... right?, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21665407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GregPowellsMustache/pseuds/greg-powells-mustache
Summary: After their encounter with the fifth dimension on Mercury, Captain Proton and friends have earned a bit of rest. When the team stops on Ixor VII to recollect themselves, Proton feels a change heading his way -- but is he prepared for what awaits him?
Series: Captain Proton and the Danger Patrol! [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1465591
Comments: 5
Kudos: 3





	From the Personal Logs of Captain Proton: An Interlude

**PERSONAL LOG, DAY 14.**

**[BEGIN RECORDING]**

We're two weeks into this mission -- and we  _ finally _ have some good news.

Juniper's been helping Altair run some experiments on the computer core, and I guess they've finally gotten it to light up. I have no idea what that  _ means, _ because none of us have the slightest clue what this thing should be doing -- not even Juniper. Xe says these computer cores aren't too different from the calculating machines we've got on our ship, in some ways; they're purpose-built, so every one of them is different.

But our calculating machines aren't  _ completely solid, and impossible to open. _ There doesn't seem to be a crack anywhere in the damn thing. No output, nothing to tell us what it's doing. So the fact that they've gotten it to do  _ anything, _ even with the power source, is a miracle.

Today's the day we're making the Jump. Constance spent the past couple of days crunching the numbers, and she says we'll come out on the other side near the PDF base on Ixor VII. We've all got some friends over there, and I think it might do all of us a bit of good to stop there for a day.

Maybe I'll do some maintenance on the ship while we're there. I only got a couple of days to make sure it was ready to go, and I used to spend at least a week on it between missions.

**[END RECORDING]**

**PERSONAL LOG, DAY 15.**

**[BEGIN RECORDING]**

We're landing on Ixor VII today, and I guess you could say that we got here without incident. Technically, we did.

But the dreams have started again -- and that means that something big is going to change soon. Maybe not right away, but soon.

I know how this goes. I'll have them for a few days, maybe a week, and it's always the same thing every night. I'm standing on a beach, just before sunrise, somewhere I've never been. It's kinda nice there, peaceful. Good place to think, to remember. I'm always alone, but sometimes... it feels like there's someone else with me, someone I can't see.

And then... the dreams will just stop. And in the next month or so... Well, who  _ knows _ what will happen? It could be great, or terrible, or... maybe both.

The first time this happened, I was seventeen. My dad had just sent me to stay with my aunt for the summer. He figured she could convince me to go into the PDF; Dad and I had been fighting about it for months. Obviously, it worked, but not for the reasons he thought -- because a week later, I met Rae.

I've been thinking about her a lot, actually, because when we get to Planet X, we'll be landing near Atomic City. Some part of me is stupid enough to believe that when we get there, I'll have the guts to go find her, try to fix things...

Yeah, she sure changed my life, alright.

When I was nineteen, it happened again. I was in the Academy then, starting the first semester of my third year. Finally had a professor I didn't dislike, and who didn't hold me to a ridiculous standard. That was my warp mechanics class -- one of the only ones I did well in. And then all of this started again. I didn't think anything of it -- not at first -- but around midterms, the commandant pulled me into her office.

_ "This just doesn't seem like you," _ she'd said.  _ "So why don't you tell me what's going on?" _

So I told her everything... almost. She asked about what I was studying -- about my hobbies, about what things really excited me. I'm pretty sure that was the first time I ever felt like someone was actually  _ listening. _

_ "I think I've got you figured out," _ she told me, and smiled a little, like she was telling me a secret.  _ "You're bored, and I don't think you're the type of person who can succeed at something they hate. You could be an excellent officer someday -- but not if you keep going like this." _

And then, she sent me off to the other end of the Galaxy for a year.

Going out there... it changed everything. It changed  _ me _ . And I needed it -- even if I didn't realize it at nineteen.

I was twenty-six, last time. By then, I think I kind of had it figured out. Something happens once, you call it a coincidence. Happens twice, you get suspicious. But three times...

It was raining, and the waves were choppy. Something was wrong; something was going to go wrong. 

I had no idea what was going to happen, so I prepared for everything I could think of, spent the next month on high alert. I think Altair was starting to worry about it. Nothing happened, and I let myself relax a little. I didn't tell anyone -- how could I? They'd never believe it... And after a couple of months, when I'd convinced myself that it was a fluke, the Stygians came.

But last night, it was clear and calm. I woke up feeling better than I have in a long time.

If change is on the horizon, I think I'm ready for it.

**[PAUSE RECORDING]**  
  


**[RESUME RECORDING]**

I stand corrected. I was  _ not _ ready, and Ixor VII was a mistake.

Listen to this.

[PAUSE, HONKING IN BACKGROUND]

Yeah. That would be a wild goose.

Everyone claims they don't know how it got here, but  _ someone _ is lying, because last time I checked, geese can't open doors.

So, I've got two suspects. This is the kind of chaos Spark just  _ lives _ for, but I'm not gonna jump to conclusions here. Besides, they were with me most of the day, helping me run diagnostics on the ship -- and they were pretty well-occupied when they weren't. And it strikes me that Buster never  _ did _ retaliate after I swapped his clarinet mouthpiece with a kazoo...

Hey, in my defense, they're not that different.

[CADET JENSEN, IN BACKGROUND:  _ "Oh my God, no, leave that alone -- give me that -- please don't try to bite me, please be a nice goose --" _ ]

[HONKING CONTINUES]

[ALTAIR, IN BACKGROUND:  _ "I'm not sure I like your new friend, honestly. It looks... angry." _ ]

[JENSEN:  _ "This isn't funny, Dad -- it tried to eat my jacket!" _ ]

...I should probably go help them.

**[PAUSE RECORDING]**  
  


**[RESUME RECORDING]**

The goose has been put back outside.

Buster's pretty proud of himself, and I've gotta hand it to him -- this was a good one. And the goose didn't do any damage, maybe aside from Spark's pride. Constance and Juniper didn't even notice it, since it was down in crew quarters and they were on the bridge.

The hardest part was getting the little guy contained -- Altair and I are gonna have a  _ very _ fun time re-organizing that tool bag in a bit.

He's cute. If we had more room, I'd probably let Spark keep him, and despite all the obnoxious honking, I've gotten kinda attached myself. So I decided to give him a name.

[KINCAID, IN BACKGROUND: _ "Don't you dare --" _ ]

I'm calling him Harry.

[KINCAID:  _ "You're dead to me." _ ]

\--What? It's a good name for a goose.

Anyway... All of this means I didn't have time to do any work on the ship but diagnostics. Thankfully, everything that needs to be done can wait until we're on our way back, although that'll be cutting it a little closer than I'd like.

Eight days to Planet X. Hopefully, this is the worst thing we have to deal with for the rest of this mission.

**[END RECORDING]**

**PERSONAL LOG, DAY 18.**

**[BEGIN RECORDING]**

The dreams changed last night. That's never happened before.

[SIGH]

I could taste lightning in the air.

**[END RECORDING]**


End file.
